How We Met
by Meltmyhearttostone
Summary: This is an AU fic. Rafael Barba hasn't started his job as a Manhattan ADA yet. He took a small break to care for his sister's orphaned child. Olivia and Rafael meet when Noah and Rafael's niece attend the same kindergarten, there are sparks, but they quickly become complicated. This story is T for now but will most likely go up.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Olivia woke with a start, the sheet that had been wrapped around her fell unceremoniously to the floor as her body jerked upwards. There was a thud. Like a cabinet door slamming shut. Olivia listened intently in an attempt to locate where the sound was coming from. There it was again, a kind of sharp twang of metal hitting the countertop. The noise seemed to push Olivia to action, her sudden adrenalin rush along with the remnants of sleep still heavy on her mind caused her to fall out of bed with a similar thud. She reached for her gun from under her pillow - that's where she's always kept it since Lewis - and headed towards the kitchen. Turning the corner, her gun drawn, she tried in vain to calm her breathing. Thinking of her precious boy sleeping in the room next to her made it nearly impossible to think rationally. She took a deep breath and turned the corner to face her intruder, gun drawn and met a terrified little boy with jelly on his face and bare toast and butter splayed out on the counter.

"Noah" Olivia sighed exasperatedly, "Don't scare me like that" She put away her gun and went to comfort the obviously scared five-year-old.

"Im sorry mommy," The small boy said holding the knife he used to smear the jam, although most of it ended up on his face and not the bread that was still on the counter. The toddler started crying, small little sobs where his whole body would shake. Olivia hurried over to the little boy, she sunk down to her knees and cradled his head in her hands. 'Oh, my sweet boy' she thought, 'my sweet, sweet boy.'

"Noah, honey it's alright" she lifted the boys head to face hers, his bottom lip pouted outward, and his little hand was still clutching the jam knife.

"I was hungry" he mewled, looking up at his mother with a sorry expression on his face.

"I can see that" Olivia chuckled, prying the knife from his fingers and placing it back on the counter. She stood up, grabbing the little boys hand and leading him towards the sink. She grabbed one of the dish towels from under the sink and bent back down and gently ran the cloth over the boys face, wiping away the tears and the jam. Olivia smiled at her son "Oh my sweet boy" she said, "next time you wake up hungry, come and wake me up alright?"

"Even on a Sunday?" the boy choked out, a look of complete innocents splashed across his face making Olivia's heart melt. She chuckled when she remembered her early morning frustration when Noah would wake her up at his usual time of 7 am even on the weekends. Before Noah, there was nothing Olivia loved more than lazy weekend mornings in bed, and she had to admit that she would react a little negatively when the boy would enthusiastically force her out of bed to make him pancakes. But none of that mattered now; nothing before Noah mattered.

"Even on a Sunday," Olivia reaffirmed. "Now how about we get you something to eat little one?" Olivia suggested, and Noah's face lit up. She looked him up and down, stood back, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the little boy, "I believe that you require some pancakes, am I right?" If the kid's sequel of excitement was enough to go on, then that was a definite yes. "Yay! Yay! Yay!" Noah jumped up and down excitedly, almost bumping into the kitchen counter. Olivia's laughed, watching her young boy so excited, running circles around her apartment, nearly knocking down a couple of the barstools in his path, was one of the best sights Olivia could see. "Alright, buddy, pancakes it is."

* * *

Rafael walked into the kitchen in his new apartment relatively early on a Sunday morning, stepping over the boxes that were still scattered around the kitchen and sitting room. He and Luciana had attempted to move in entirely last night, but the kitchen was left unfinished, and the plates and pots were left still packed away in boxes on the floor. Rafael tumbled on a few of the boxes trying to make his way all the way into the kitchen, one box flopped to its side, and Rafael cursed under his breath as he heard the distinct sound of plates breaking. He left the box on its side, leaving the presumably broken plates for another time, right now he was on a mission. Rafael maneuvered himself over the boxes to get to the coffee maker - the single appliance on the counter, the only thing Rafael bothered to unpack from the kitchen last night. He took the coffee beans that he bought yesterday from the cupboard and filled the pot, poured the water into the filter and turned on the coffee maker. Once the coffee started brewing is when Rafael noticed that he failed to unpack any mugs, and the coffee that he was so looking forward to was spilling out of the bottom plate and onto the counter. "Shit!" He ran to the place where he typically stored his paper towels and found it empty, soon realizing that all his paper and dish towels lay at the bottom of one of the boxes still on his kitchen floor. Cursing again he ran back to the coffee maker and quickly unplugged it, the puddle of coffee on the counter had already made it to the floor, soaking into his socks. Rafael gazed down at his feet, his under-caffeinated brain telling him just to screw it and lick it up off the floor. He resigned but was unsettled by how tempted he was.

Heading back to his room he called to Luciana to get dressed for breakfast deciding that he would leave the mess for when they got back; coffee and feeding the young girl in his care being the most important thing right now.

* * *

Olivia smiled at her boy as he finished his last pancake. He had grown so much since she first found him and she could barely believe that he was starting kindergarten tomorrow.

"Are you full little one?" Olivia asked the young boy, lovingly running her thumb over the boy's small cheek. The boy nodded, sighing appreciatively. Olivia got down from the barstool and started to work on clearing the plates. "Let me help you, mamma!" The little boy jumped off the counter holding his plate and made quick work of putting the dish into the sink. He got onto his tip toes and reached his little hand towards the faucet, with a cute high-pitched strained sequel he continued to bat at the tip of the faucet, the little boy was not yet tall enough to turn the water on by himself.

"Honey let me help you" Olivia reached towards the sink, but the toddlers increased efforts stopped her.

"No, I can do it!" He squealed, pushing up even further on his tippy toes. Olivia chuckled, leaned down and lifted the boy slightly by his waist - just enough to bridge the gap between the boys wriggling fingers and the water faucet.

"Yay!" Noah screamed when the water hit his plate in the sink. Olivia put her son down, brushing his hair back into place.

"Are you excited to start kindergarten, my love?" Olivia asked the young boy, his happy expression from conquering the water faucet dimmed slightly, he looked down, ran his small hands along the hem of his sleep shirt and then started to worry the fabric.

"Baby whats wrong?" Olivia put her fingers under the young boy's chin and tilted his face toward her.

"What if no one wants to be my friend?" Noah looked up at his mother, big innocent eyes meeting hers, his brow furrowed together - a mark of worry on his face.

"Oh, honey," Olivia sunk down to her knees, becoming eye level with her son, running the back of her hand down the familiar path of the little boy's cheek. "Anyone would be lucky to be your friend" Noah's eyes met his moms when she said that, the vulnerability in his face made Olivia's heart lurch. "Hey," Olivia bumped her son's shoulder, "Why don't we go to the park? Celebrate your big day tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll get my shoes!" And he was off, sprinting down the hall towards his bedroom.

* * *

Rafael and Luciana exited the cafe after their late brunch. He held the little girl's hand as they walked down the busy street, remembering the first time he did this. It was just after he was given custody of the little girl - he is her closest living relative; uncle to dad in under an hour. It still dumbfounded him how it all happened so quickly.

"Tio?" the little girl hanging on to his hand asked, snapping him out of his remembrance

"Yes, Mija?"

"Do I have to go to school?" Rafael grimaced. If he were honest he saw this coming - his niece had never been a big fan of school.

"Yes corazoncita, you do." He looked down at the girl, watching her pout was always painful, but he had to remain firm. "Why don't we go to the park to take your mind off things?"

 **Next chapter they meet! Im going to have a lot of fun with these two, hope you guys stick with me.**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Olivia and Noah were rounding the corner down the street from their usual park. Noah had befriended a boy of around the same age at the park last week, and he begged to go back to the same park every day in hopes that he'd cross paths with his new buddy. The closer to the park they got, the tighter Noah pulled on his mother's arm. Once they made their way to the park, Noah examined the play ground for his friend.

"I don't see him, mamma," the boy pouted.

"Honey will run into him sometime."

"You promise?" Olivia hesitated, not necessarily wanting to guarantee Noah something when she couldn't certify that it could happen, but his face was too downtrodden not too, "yes love, I promise." She grabbed her son's hand again and walked towards the sandboxes - Noah's favorite place at the park.

"Look, sweet boy, someone is playing in the sandboxes, why don't you go play with them?" Olivia suggested.

"Okay, mommy!" Noah yelled as he ran towards the sandboxes.

Olivia, feeling that Noah was reasonably placated for not finding his usual park buddy, sat down on one of the near by benches. She watched her son play, his new companion a young girl similar to Noah's age. The park was, unfortunately, kind of busy for a Sunday afternoon; the sandboxes were the only place that was swamped with children. Olivia looked over to see how Noah was doing; the two younger ones seemed to be getting along, they shared the toys without fighting which was a miracle in itself. Noah pointed at her and waved; she waved back. The young girl similarly looked at a well-dressed man sitting on one of the benches opposite her, he looked up from his phone and smiled. Olivia assumed that he was the young girl's father, but something intrigued her about him. He was far too well-dressed for a day at the park, all the way down to his perfectly shiny shoes. He looked absurdly serious in comparison to the jungle gym behind him. He frustrated her and Olivia didn't know why. It could be that the way that he sat - perfectly straight with his legs crossed - conveyed arrogance. Or it could be that the way his eyes stayed glued to his phone could have told her he was far more interested in what was on that screen than the little girl making sand castles in front of him. Or it could be, if Olivia was truthful to herself, the reason this man she didn't know got on her nerves so much was because even though she disliked his apparent self-importance and disregard for his daughter, she couldn't help but continuously trace her eyes around his body, following the lines of his fitted dress shirt down to the metallic sheen of his belt buckle. She shivered, and Olivia found herself unconsciously biting the inside of her lip. This reaction is what made her the most uncomfortable; Olivia didn't like to feel so easily swayed. She looked a little bit longer, almost daring to venture a bit further south when the man started to take his suit jacket off, and Olivia had to use all of her self-control not to allow her jaw to hit the ground. He was muscular, in an unassuming way, and she knew she had to pry her eyes away from him now to reduce further embarrassment.

Olivia looked down at her phone, anxious for any distraction. She settled on going over the emails she replied to this morning - something monotonous - just taxing enough so she could stop picturing her hands running along the path of his body that her eyes took earlier. After checking a couple of emails she looked up to see how her son was getting along, what she saw was something she'd never expected. The well-dressed, uptight, arrogant, no-good father, was in the sand pit with the children - sleeves rolled up, suit jacket discarded on the bench - and was animatedly explaining how to make the perfect sand castle. She could hear Noah laughing from where she was seated, and if she hadn't been so surprised by how poorly she read him - you would think that a seasoned cop wouldn't misread someone's character so completely - she probably wouldn't still be glued to her place on the park bench.

Her phone buzzed from inside her suit pocket, pulling it out she looked at the number and grimaced - it was Fin, which could only mean one thing. With one more resigned look at her son, she took the phone call.

* * *

As Rafael and Luciana entered the park, he could see her surveying the scene. He knew she liked the jungle gym, but he saw her eyeing it with distaste - there were too many boys playing on it, and Luciana didn't get along with boys. He noticed her eyes dart quickly to the swings in the left corner; children surrounded it. For a second he thought his niece was going to brave it, but with a quick shake of her head she turned quickly and headed to probably the only place of solace in the whole park: the sandbox.

Rafael sat down on the bench closest to the sandbox, putting his briefcase carefully on the ground beside him. He settled in, loosening his cufflinks and taking out his phone to get some work done. Shortly after, Rafael spotted a mother and son walking into the park over the tip of his cell. The boy looked unsure, slightly cowering behind his mother's legs. They seemed to be looking for something, a father perhaps? Rafael bristled at the idea; he didn't understand why the thought had made him suddenly so uncomfortable. She could be married; it's none of his business he reminded himself. Somehow imagining her attached helped stop him from looking.

In between emails, he noticed the women he was trying to ignore and her son were walking closer. The woman was looking around the park, her eyes following the similar path of Luciana's earlier, the jungle gym, the swings and finally settling on the sandbox. He saw her bend down a little bit to speak to her son and then point directly at the sandbox where Luciana was playing by herself. He sat up a little straighter and recited a silent prayer for the boy not to want to play in the sandbox with Luciana - she liked playing alone. But of course, as soon as she pointed it out to the young boy he came running towards the sandbox. 'God, where did she get off!" Rafael thought to himself. 'She can see that Luciana wants to play alone, everyone can see that Luciana wants to play alone - she's in the only place where you can be alone in this whole freaking park for Christ's sake!' He watched as the boy clamored into Luciana's space, he saw her distance herself from him as much as the small sandbox would allow. He became tense and unconsciously started to fiddle with his cufflinks - a nervous habit he developed in the courtroom. He just wanted Luciana to have a fun day at the park before she had to go to school tomorrow, and he had a sneaking suspicion that their day was ruined. Looking up, he scanned to see where the mother of this boy had gone; this was her bright idea anyway. He found her sitting down on the bench across the other side of the sandbox, basically as far away as possible from the open bench next to him.

"Would you like to play with the purple shovel?" The boy's little voice snapped his attention away from the women sitting across from him. He was holding out the purple shovel to Luciana, his eyes hopeful and sincere. She leaned her hand out slowly, taking the offering and muttering a muted 'thank you.' Luciana looked back at him and smiled - he relaxed bit, breathed out a breath he didn't even know he was holding in.

He looked at the mystery women almost apologetically, feeling somewhat ashamed for judging the situation so prematurely. Rafael found that she was looking at him too, well not necessarily looking at him but instead her eyes were fixedly glued to his neck, then his chest and finally - Rafael traced the path of her gaze and landed on his belt. He smirked. The mystery woman on the park bench was all but drooling over him. Rafael took his suit jacket off slowly; he told himself it was because he was feeling warm, but it was honestly to get that surprised look on her face. Her eyes widened, and he swore that he saw the slightest blush creep up her neck - he chuckled, it was worth it. Rafael was about to roll his sleeves up to see if he could get that blush to not just be on her neck but spread across her whole face, but when he looked back over at her to see if she was still ogling him, he saw her frantically grabbing at her phone from her pocket.

"Rafi, it keeps falling!" Rafael heard his niece whine. He looked over just in time to see the sand castle that the two young children had worked on crumble thoroughly. Rafael quickly got up from the bench, rolled his sleeves up like he was planning to initially, a smirk spread across his face imagining how she would react to seeing him do this, and quickly bent down to help the kids with their sandcastle.

* * *

"Alright Fin. Don't worry, I understand, I'll be there soon." Olivia ended her phone call and looked over at her son, he looked like he was having fun and pulling him away from that was not going to be easy - she had the suspicion that she was going to be letting someone have ice cream before dinner tonight. Olivia got up from the park bench and started over towards her son; the movement seems to catch the attention of the mystery man. He looked up, and a look of surprise splashed across his face, as quickly as it appeared it was replaced with a smirk. Olivia only got half way to the sandbox before Noah turned around, he must have heard her coming, or perhaps he saw the mystery man's reaction and searched to find the focal point of his gaze.

"Mommy!" Noah jumped up and ran towards her, causing some of the sand to fly on to the man's presumably expensive suit.

"Hello baby" Olivia dropped to her sons level, dusting the dirt from his hair and dragging the back of her hand down his cheek. "Mommy has to go to work Noah. It's time to go." the toddler looked up at his mom with the picture perfect puppy dog face. His head tipped back, and his limbs sagged against his mother's arms. If Olivia didn't know her son better, she would think he was about to have a temper tantrum right here, on the concrete in the middle of the park.

"Say goodbye to your friend my love." Olivia pushed Noah in the direction of the sandbox and he, albeit unwillingly - dragging his legs on the ground, so they made that pathetic scrapping sound - headed back to the sand box and, in a hushed voice and a small wave said "goodbye" to his new friend.

Olivia made brief eye contact with the man that she'd been ogling the entire time, she gave a half smile, grabbed her sons hands and quickly turned and walked out of the park.

* * *

Rafael was busy teaching the children the art of sand castles when he heard the tell-tell sign of heels on pavement. He looked up and saw first the heeled boot in question, then extremely long legs, and finally landed on the women who had been playing cat and mouse with him all afternoon. Part of him started to panic, although he won his mini strip tease, the idea of actually talking to her made his mouth go dry. Rafael quickly recovered, replacing his uncertainty with a mask of arrogance - looking her up and down and displaying a satisfied smirk.

"Mommy!" The little boy took off running towards his mother, kicking back some dirt in doing so. Rafael was a little raddled, not necessarily liking dirt to be splattered on his expensive suits.

"Mommy has to go to work Noah; it's time to go." 'Work?', Rafael thought, 'What profession requires you to hurry into work at 2 pm on a Sunday?'. As the little boy went over to say goodbye to Luciana he could tell that she was disappointed, she enjoyed playing with him which surprised Rafael - given her track record. The women made eye contact with him for a split second, and he may have detected a small smile, although if he blinked he'd miss it. The boy walked away with his mother, and Rafael had the suspicion that he was a little disappointed too

 **Don't worry, in the next chapter; we'll get more than just glances. Please comment your thoughts about the story so far and give me some ideas about what you would like to see!**


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Olivia held Noah's hand; the frigid autumn air hit their faces as they exited the subway. They were heading to preschool early Monday morning, and the little boy by her side was beyond excited. They stopped for coffee on the way, and Noah could barely contain himself. Olivia feared that he was going to hit the people in front of him with all his nervous jumping. This was the first time that she shared her morning commute with her son and she was starting to see that there was going to be a little bit of a learning curve. For example, it was going to take approximately ten extra minutes to get through the subway system due to Noah's smaller legs and subsequent shorter strides - and on top of that Noah now hated being picked up. With the time crunch, Olivia was walking slightly too fast for her toddler that was still pulling on her arm slightly, and when she took the last turn before they reached the school, Noah faltered and bumped into Olivia's legs causing her to spill her coffee all over her new white blouse.

"Damnit!" Olivia cursed.

"Bad word!" Noah yelled back. Olivia sighed back sympathetically wiping at the spill, trying to salvage her shirt and also, selfishly, checking the styrofoam cup in hopes that there was

still some coffee left; with the extra stressful commute, she sure needed it. She checked; nothing.

"I'm sorry buddy" with one last hopeful look at her coffee cup she threw it in the trash. Grabbing her son's hand again, and heading back towards the school.

* * *

Rafael watched Luciana sit on the stoop outside her new school quietly, her fingers fidgeting slightly - showing her nerves. They were 20 minutes early for her first day of Kindergarten, both coping with their anxiety about the day by being over prepared. That morning he stirred himself into quite the panic at the local bakery, Rafael bought one of each donut for her to choose from and the fact that she only barely picked at the one that she chose didn't get past him. He knew that she didn't want to go to school but seeing her so wound up, made him wound up. And when he was wound up he tended to get snappy - the anxiety just spilling out of him and making him say things that were so mean he doubted that he would say them even when he was drunk, and he tended to be an abrasive drunk.

Rafael checked his watch, only five minutes until they could walk in, meaning they'd be only ten minutes early instead of twenty. He sighed, taking one of the donuts from the two large boxes he bought this morning, remembering how silly he looked carrying huge pink boxes through the subway at six o'clock in the morning. Taking care of his niece was relatively easy for Rafael, but there were still those small disturbances - the pink, sparkly and frequently strawberry scented disturbances - that he still had a slight problem with.

"Let's go!" Luciana pulled on Rafael's sleeve, her nerves apparently making her a little snippy as well.

"Alright, alright." He checked his watch, "I guess you can be 13 minutes early."

* * *

Olivia pulled Noah ungracefully behind her trying her best to get the little boy to his first day of kindergarten on time. They rounded the corner of the long tiled hallway right when the teacher was starting her beginning of the year introductions. Olivia sighed in relief, pushing Noah up to the front, gaining some sideways glares from the other parents. While the teacher droned on Olivia took the time to scope out the other parents. Even though she was confident with how she was raising Noah, Olivia still had some built up insecurity's about being a single mother. Especially now that Noah was starting school, he would start to see the stereotypical "normal" family dynamic, and she honestly wasn't ready for the questions.

The teacher wrapped up her spiel, focusing intently on the importance of 'timeliness' which felt directed towards her. The sideways judgmental glance that the teacher pointed at Olivia was a little much - they weren't even technically late, they may have shown up after the teacher said her name but she knew all the tedious rules that the parents had to follow, who knew private school required so much mandatory volunteering.

The children started filling into the classrooms, and Noah looked up at his mom, a lost expression on his face. "Go have fun sweet boy; I'll be back to pick you up in a couple of hours."

"Okay! Bye Momma!" Noah gave his mother a weak side hug and then ran into the classroom. 'Damn' Olivia thought, 'I feel like that should have been harder for him.'

* * *

Rafael and Luciana walked into the school, finding her classroom with relative ease. Luciana peeked in timidly, taking in the scenery. The teacher, after spotting them, came out quickly to introduce herself. She was sweet, beautiful, young and under different circumstances, he probably would have made a move. But this early in the morning, standing next to his five-year old niece, with the faintest trace of donut glaze left on his chin, he felt that now was probably not the best time.

He was glad that they showed up so early, he could see Luciana warm up, and that put him at ease. As the other children started filling in Luciana didn't look near as startled as he thought she would and he was so incredibly proud of her. The teacher was just starting to give her opening remarks when hurried heeled footsteps were heard hitting the tiled floor - taking up a manic pace. The disruption irritated him - well lateness of any sort irritated him. He started to imagine the villain that would dare show up late to the first day of Kindergarten, but when the attractive brunette from the park rounded the corner, the irritation faded and was replaced by an odd sense of familiarity. When he saw her aggressively push her son up to the front of the group it took all his willpower not to laugh audibly.

* * *

With the kids dispersing into their assigned classrooms the parents were left with the decision to either awkwardly small talk in the middle of the hallway or make a bolt for it and came across as oddly pushy. Olivia went for the latter, being perceived as aggressive was never a problem for her. She took the phone out of her suit jacket pocket and headed purposefully towards the door. Walking past a man who was leaning against the wall and also checking his phone, Olivia got distracted watching his thumbs flitter across the screen of his phone. Rafael, noticing her distraction, came off the wall and walked towards her. Olivia was so captivated by his hands that she was oblivious to his new proximity causing her to trip rather ungracefully over his foot and Rafael quickly grabbed her arm to stop her from hitting the floor.

"Shit" Olivia cursed as she was jerked upwards. Once she was standing, eye level with the man who yanked her upright, his eyes fixed on her own, Olivia retracted, feeling a sense of vulnerability that she wasn't comfortable with. She stiffened, pulling her arm out of his hand forcefully, becoming combative, "Watch where you're going!" She spat at him.

"I should watch where I'm going? I'm not the one so busy trying to read a strangers text messages that I fall over." Rafael spat back, mirroring her combative stance.

It hadn't even occurred to Olivia that he was texting someone, she was just entranced by the movement of his thumbs gliding across the screen. A blush started to creep across her neck at the thought. "Oh come on, I wasn't trying to read your text messages." Olivia countered defensively, getting more aggressive the more embarrassed she felt. "Are you always this paranoid that someones watching you? You obviously love the attention based off the three piece suit you're wearing. You know this is Kindergarten drop off right? Not the met ball." with a satisfied twitch of her eyebrow, Olivia turned to walk away being stopped once again by Rafael's hand on her arm. She turned back around to see him leer at her, dragging his eyes up and down her form.

"That's big talk for someones who's bra is completely visible under their shirt," Rafael said with a self-important smile. Olivia looked down and saw that the coffee had seeped through her white blouse revealing her black trimmed bra. Unconsciously she tightened her blazer around herself and looked back up at him, staring daggers.

"You know this is a kindergarten drop off right?" throwing her words back at her, his smirk grew as he saw her reaction - the blush on her neck was deepening.

He looked familiar she thought. There was something about him that made her stomach tighten unwittingly. Brushing it off she continued to glare at him: "Your mother never taught you not to stare?" Olivia asked, trying to combat her rising blush, resuming her combative stance.

"Says the women who practically undressed me with her eyes in a public park yesterday afternoon."

'Fuck,' Olivia thought, that's where she knew him. The blush that she had been trying to pin down had grown relentlessly, spread all across her face in embarrassing red blotches. She put her hands on her face, rubbing her brow and temples, trying to hide how his stare was affecting her. She finally looked him; the police captain's mask set firmly in place. Fidgeting with the case of her phone slightly - the only remnants of her anxiety - she tried helplessly to meet his stare and gain the upper hand. Rafael, relishing in her discomfort, looked her up and down once more, quickly winking, turning on his heels and heading down the hallway.

 **Thank you all for reading. The next chapter will probably be M but I will put a disclaimer beforehand. Please feel free to give me any ideas about what you guys would like to see. I appreciate all of you that review - they make writing this so much more fun!**


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Olivia stomped into the precinct a good ten minutes late Monday morning. She was still reeling from her encounter at Noah's kindergarten; Olivia didn't like to feel so defenseless. He caught her. He caught her staring in the park, and he caught her staring again this morning, and worse yet, he caught her in a moment of weakness where her attraction to him was so visible - it was mortifying.

Olivia chucked her bag down on her desk and sat down so emphatically that her chair scooted back a couple of inches on the linoleum causing a pathetic scraping sound. At the sudden disturbance Amanda looked up from her paperwork, her eyebrows crinkling in concern. Olivia waved her off, propping her elbows on the table and putting her hands on the side of her face - shielding Rollins from view. She breathed deeply, trying to shuck off the feeling of uneasiness that that man caused.

Chief Dodds came into the precinct, the resonance of his shoes hitting the floor always gave him away. It was almost twangy, the solid wooden heel hitting the floor differently. Even with her head still bowed toward her desk she could hear him coming, his footsteps getting gradually louder with the occasional brusk 'hello' to her detectives. There were three rhythmic knocks on her door - he always knocked that way, it was as clear an identifier as the sound of his shoe on pavement. Olivia looked up reluctantly, barely meeting his gaze. He marched into her office anyway, invading her space like he always did: with little regard to her wishes.

"Good news! We're getting a new ADA" This peaked her interest. Olivia looked up at the Chief with a quizzical yet guarded expression. She saw him scan her subtly, stopping multiple times at her torso. His eyes would dance around her face momentarily - trying to maintain eye contact - but quickly focusing back on her blouse. Instantly Olivia thought he was checking her out, but then, with a quick look down at her blouse she remembered the coffee spill and how unfortunately revealing her white blouse had become. Olivia cringed, tightening her suit jacket around herself. Trying her best to salvage any semblance of professionalism in front of her boss, Olivia quickly straightened herself out.

"So soon? We just put the last one away for child pornography charges." Dodds rolled his eyes at her rebuke, not necessarily wanting to be reminded of his previous colleague's failure. The assistant District Attorney assigned to work with the Special Victims Unit being outed as a pedophile publicly was a media maelstrom; It was embarrassing for the whole department.

Olivia, seeing Dodd's discomfort, softened her tone a bit, "Chief, you can't blame me for not being enthusiastic?"

Chief Dodds sat down on the chair opposite her with a tired sigh, "No. No, I can't." He crossed his legs, put his arms on the sides of the chair, resting his weight. There was silence, amicable easy silence. Their years of knowing each other filled enough space that words weren't necessary. Dodd's Finally Dodd's shifted in his chair, the movement forcing Olivia to look back up at him.

"I trust that you will welcome him to the team." Dodd's raised his eyebrows at her, conveying the importance of his instruction. He paused briefly and then quickly stood up and walked out of the office.

"Of course, Chief" Olivia murmured to his back as he exited her office, the only clue that he heard what she said was the slight wave of his hand as he disappeared out of the precinct.

* * *

Olivia rolled her shoulders back, taking her first deep breath of the day. She settled further into the booth, adjusting the hem of the NYPD shirt she was forced to change in to after the coffee incident. It was slightly too tight on her, had a hole in the upper right shoulder and was a far cry from her usual work place attire - leaving her feeling exposed. She looked around the booth; the entire team decided to head down to the bar across the precinct to unwind. Amanda had left work a couple of minutes early to save a booth for everyone, and now, about two hours of drinks later, the stress of the day still hadn't worn off. The case they just wrapped up was tough - well all of SVU cases were tough, but this one had drained them all. Now they were holed up in a bar trying to nurse their depleted emotions. It was in the middle of Fin's second 'Good Ol Day's' stories that she first spotted him. He walked up to the bar with such confidence, his suit the same as it was this morning - clean, crisp with no wrinkles in sight. Her stomach tightened reflexively - a typical reaction to him it seemed. She watched him sit down on the bar stool across from her; part of her wanted to believe that he did it purposefully, so that she would be forced to make eye contact with him, but her rational brain kicked in reminding her that she was the one with the school girl crush - and those, she regretted to remember, were always one sided.

The whole team laughed jovially at a joke that Olivia missed while she was busy lecherously eyeing the man at the bar. "Yeah, Liv witnessed the whole thing!" Carisi explained, gesturing towards Olivia expectantly. The whole team shifted their gaze towards her, smiles still plastered on each one of their faces. Olivia swallowed, having trouble meeting their gazes, "Yeah, it was crazy" She muttered, taking a sip of her drink. Olivia leaned back into the booth, cradling her second wine of the night in her hands. She tried not to look over at him; he was right in her eye line, so she sunk into the booth, hiding behind Fin to reduce the temptation. She swirled the wine in her glass nervously, passing the cup from each hand; feeling the cool glass.

"And then Lieu smacked the smug smile off of his face!" The whole table erupted in laughter. 'Carisi must have been continuing the same story, that doesn't narrow it down, I've slapped a lot of people.' Olivia thought. The team was still laughing, looking at her expectantly. Olivia sat up a little and hesitated a glance over at the guy at the bar; he was watching her. A shiver ran up her spine, and her fingers started to once again fidget with the stem of her wine glass.

"I bet he went down hard didn't he?" Amanda questioned, putting her hand on her forearm softly, catching her attention.

Olivia looked over at the bar again; he was still watching her; sipping his scotch almost seductively. She swallowed hard, wrenching her eyes away from him. Bolstered with new confidence from his attention, she turned back at her team suavely and phoned in her response, "Yeah he went down hard, a have the faintest recollection that he cried." She chuckled softly, putting on a little bit of a show for him as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking back at the bar - finally meeting the mystery mans gaze directly. He smirked in response, and with a slight shake of his head, he looked back down at his drink.

* * *

Rafael walked down the street across from the Court House. He had a billion meetings today and was exhausted from cozying up to all the big wigs in the District Attorney's office. He was officially hired as Manhattan's newest ADA; he signed the paperwork today and everything. Rafael had been fretful about the move from Brooklyn, but he always aspired to work in Manhattan and after his sister died he felt like the best thing for Luciana was a fresh start.

Rafael ambled around looking for some place to kill time. Luciana was having dinner with his mother, and he wasn't thrilled to hurry home. After his sister's death, his relationship with his mother was shaky, to say the least. He turned the corner with a sharp click of his heel and spotted a bar a little further up. He knew his mother would have something to say about keeping his niece waiting to get a drink - but after the day he had a scotch sounded good.

Rafael stopped outside the bar door, shifting his weight on his feet to stall time. He hesitated momentarily, worried to go inside the bar because, since it was so close to the courthouse, some of his future colleagues could be inside; and Rafael didn't like his business and personal lives to mix. With a couple of glances inside the darkened windows, he decided that since he hasn't started the job yet, one drink couldn't do much harm. Walking inside, the dingy atmosphere hit him first, but the dark lighting and slight musk were almost welcoming. He spotted an empty seat at the bar, walking over he stumbled over a couple of familiar faces from the court house. Smiling amiably, he dodged their attempt at conversation with a curt nod and sat down at the bar ordering a scotch on the rocks, quickly taking his phone out as a distraction; he always found that if he looked occupied fewer people would try to insert themselves into his space.

He was just taking his first sip of his drink when he heard it; the familiar sound was ringing out from in front of him causing him to snap his head in that direction. And there she was - sitting in the middle of a group of people. He expected to see her like this, someone that beautiful should never be sitting alone. She was so completely different here, in the dark of the bar - surrounded by wood and leather. Her features morphed into something softer, creating new shadows that were infinitely appealing. She looked eminently more comprehensible here then when he saw her rigidly sitting on that park bench, or when she fought tooth and nail with him in the middle of a kindergarten hallway, she was relaxed; smiling. The people around her told jokes, and she laughed - a sweet, deep sound that rolled from her; he swore that he could almost feel it; in waves.

Her eyes snapped up to his for a second, fluttering across his face momentarily, one eyebrow raised imperceptibly, in what Rafael could only assume was faint recognition and he had to bite back a smirk. Her eyes grazed back to the people sitting in the booth next to her almost as fast as they met his gaze and he chuckled, taking another sip of his scotch. Rafael rubbed his chin, a nervous tick he picked up in law school, and tried his best to ignore the alluring brunette sitting across from him. But when the booth erupted in laughter once again he couldn't tear his eyes away.

"And then Lieu smacked the smug smile off his face!" A tall brown haired man almost yelled in the busy bar. Rafael could hear the accent in his voice, and it instilled in him an immediate fondness. Somehow the thought of this woman, whom he doesn't know, hitting someone was not out of the realm of possibility. It was suitable actually. Rafael had gotten a front row seat to her life for the past couple of days. He'd seen her rigid with stress, sweating building at her brow, with out a stitch of make up in a public park. He'd witnessed her propensity to be late, her combative attitude and been on the brunt of her acerbic wit; and now, dimly lit and tipsy - she still had all of his attention.

"I have the faintest recollection that he cried." Rafael couldn't stop the smile spreading on his face when he heard her say that. It was so fitting for what he knew about her; biting yet soaked in honey. He felt his body lurch towards her; there was so much unwritten familiarity for this woman which was only further compounded when she ran her hands through her hair, looking back at him with a terribly flirtatious smile.

* * *

The night was coming to a close, Fin had already left, and Carisi and Amanda were finishing their last drinks - already planning their ride home when she dared to look at him again. He was sitting alone - the bar almost empty now. She was tempted to go slide up next to him, look him right in the eye and say something bitty or daring to make up for the way he embarrassed her at Noah's school today. But Olivia doubted that he would remember who she was, and even if he did remember her, she doubted that she could ever say anything that would leave him raddled. So, instead, she sunk further back into the leather of the booth and waited for the others to finish so she could make her way out of the bar alone - somehow the night called for that kind of distance.

"Do you want to share a cab liv?" Amanda asked, slurring her words slightly.

Contemplating her escape, Olivia paused; sharing a cab with her two detectives would be the rational thing to do, but something was holding her back. "No, I'll be okay. You two go ahead" Both of the detectives nodded obediently, putting their coats on and with congenial waves headed out of the bar.

Olivia took out her phone from her pant pocket, checking to make sure Lucy hadn't reached out to her. When there were no missed calls, she concluded that she could idle a couple more minutes at the bar. Olivia placed her phone back down on the wooden table, looking around the now sparsely occupied bar. She located him almost immediately; he was still sitting in the same spot, perched high on his barstool like he belonged there - tie loosened, a wry grin plastered on his face and his thumb running along the rim of his glass. He was still watching her; openly, unabashedly studying her. Olivia started to blush and looked away, picking up her phone and fiddling with the buttons to occupy herself. She picked up her wine glass and took a drink quickly noticing that there was nothing left in it.

'Damn it' Olivia thought, 'I can't very well stall in a bar without booze now can I?' Olivia was tempted to order another drink but the man that was sitting in the way of her booze, the man that was still openly staring at her, made her halt. Building up her nerve she rose from the booth where she had been hiding most of the night, if this man were a parent at her son's school, she would have to see him some time. Collecting her phone, jacket and empty glass, she headed towards the bar.

Rafael attuned his attention to the captivating brunet when he heard the telltale sound of weight shifting on leather, a slight scratching noise as her pant buttons scraped the leather as she slid out of the booth. His heart jumped, and when he saw her head toward him he couldn't bite back the smirk any longer, and with every thump of her heeled foot on the concrete floor, his heart beat faster.

Olivia reached the bar, sliding into the seat close enough to the man that she could hear his soft flirtatious exhale when she made it to the bar but far enough away that it wouldn't infer her intentions. The bartender, noticing her empty glass and instinctually refilled it. Rafael saw that he didn't ask her what she wanted before he poured her more wine; she must be a regular he thought.

"Im glad you decided to cover up." Rafael leered, and Olivia immediately tensed. How could this man so easily get under her skin? She cursed his ability to undercut her usually unshakable exterior.

"I was worried that you recognized me" Olivia replied in a kind of despondent exhale.

"How could I not?" Rafael retorted cockily, moving into the bar stool next to her, unbuttoning his suit jacket as he sat down, facing her. "I don't generally make it a habit of forgetting women who flash me and then yell at me in a kindergarten hallway."

Sensing his flirtatious tone, Olivia loosened her posture turning to face him slightly, matching his tone "Oh and that situation happens to you frequently?"

He chuckled in response, a sound that was full of mirth and it hit Olivia right in her core. She shuddered, trying desperately to hide it by taking a sip of her now replenished glass of wine. By the simpered snicker from the man sitting next to her, she could only imagine that she didn't hide her reaction well.

Her undeniable attraction to him emboldened Rafael, "I have been flashed and yelled at before, yes. But none have left such a…" Rafael raked his eyes up and down Olivia's form, taking extra time around her chest, where the fabric of her worn NYPD shirt clung a little too tightly, "lasting impression." with a lascivious smile, Rafael took another swig of his scotch. Olivia squirmed under his gaze, unconsciously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

Olivia, making a quick recovery turned to face him again - the Lieutenants mask firmly in place. "The yelling I can see, but the flashing I'm not so sure about."

"You don't think people would flash me?" Slightly offended, Rafael stated more emphatically "I am very flashable!"

Olivia laughed in response. The foolishness of the current conversation mixed with the alcohol she had consumed made her feel positively giddy. "And exactly how many people have to flash you to quantify you as 'flashable'?" Olivia asked.

"It's not really about the number, more about the potential."

"Oh, I see." Olivia was still laughing, her un-comfort now long forgotten and her eyes reflected the mirth displayed in the man sitting across from her.

On a whim, Rafael leaned into Olivia's space, reaching out his hand he brushed back a loose strand of hair that had fallen into her face. When Olivia looked up at him confused by the sudden displays of intimacy; Rafael retreated with a shrug, explaining only "it was blocking my view."

There was a long silence between the two, taking the occasional sip of their drinks while sneaking glances at one another. The atmosphere around them was calm, the bar quieter than before; there was only a handful of people left, and most of the waitstaff had already begun cleaning the tables and stacking the chairs. Over time, they scooted closer together. First, it was an innocent brush of hands; quick and fleeting. Then it was an increasingly more heated touch of her leg against his under the table, the more she faced him, the higher her knee traveled. He coughed faintly, looking around the bar to see who had witnessed her provocation. When his eyes meet hers again, he saw the same alluring invitation. He leaned in slowly, ghosting the side of her cheek and his minimal amount of stubble brought a pleasant shiver to radiate through her body. She sighed reflexively and could feel him smile against her ear in response.

"Let's get out of here" he whispered, and soon Olivia had a smile that matched his.

 **This took me forever to finish; I just wasn't inspired I guess. I know I said this last time, but the next chapter will go up in rating. Please review, it makes me so happy to see what you guys think!**


	5. Chapter 5

Olivia exited the bar first. The air cool on her face and his warm hand on the small of her back mixed forcing a shiver to run up the length of her spine. It had taken them longer then she anticipated to leave the bar. The suggestive looks cooled when they left their seats, and the two became increasingly timid the farther away they traveled. But the cold air changed all that, chilly New York nights are always filled with suggestion; the breeze nipping at the skin, creating intimacy.

"Should we get a cab?" Rafael muttered into her hair, pulling her closer and wrapping one arm around her waist.

"Mmm" Olivia hummed in response, she could feel the warmth from his hands through all the layers of her clothing, causing her to lean in closer. Olivia turned to face him. He lent his hand out to hail a cab, and she got distracted looking at the contours of his body again. Heady under the alcohol she ran her hand up his torso to his tie, pulling lightly on the silky fabric. She saw the edges of his lips tilt up into a smirk, and she got a little bit more daring, pulling the fabric harder until he was forced to look at her. She tugged his tie one more time; a hard jab, and then he was kissing her.

His eagerness surprised her, escalating the kiss quickly, slipping his tongue past her lips with ease. Olivia was shocked by her compliance. Standing on the curb of a popular bar in the middle of the night kissing a stranger; "actually," Olivia thought "this man wasn't a stranger. She ogled him in a playground, all but flashed him in the hallway of her son's kindergarten and now, has played a drunken game of cat and mouse in a bar in front of her whole squad." Rafael's hand that was previously raised in an attempt to hail down a cab wrapped lightly around her neck and slowly trailed upwards into her hairline. Rafael bit on Olivia's bottom lip gently, pulling a small moan from the back of her throat.

"Yeah, he's not a stranger."

Rafael's lips traveled away from her lips and down to the side fo her ear. Olivia tilted her head to the side, she opened her eyes for the first time since the start of the kiss, and it finally hit her where exactly she was; on the sidewalk in front of a popular bar in Midtown at 12 am. People on the street starred, cabs drove by and honked. Olivia made eye contact with a man that walked past her, he rolled his eyes and quickly brushed past them. Olivia immediately tensed up. She pushed Rafael away and stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest to create some necessary distance. Silence hung in the air, blocking out even the busy street next to them. Rafael looked stunned. His mouth was still left unflatteringly open; his arms were still held out slightly in front of him - making the absence of her body just that much more apparent.

Rafael regained his composure, put his hands in his pocket and shifted his weight cautiously; "look, I'm-"

"Follow me," Olivia grabbed Rafael's arm and ungracefully tugged him towered the alleyway near the bar. She pushed him again the brick alley wall a tad harder then necessary and Rafael reacted immediately, grabbing onto her waist with just as much force. Olivia kissed him again, hungrier than before. She racked her hands along his form quickly landing on his belt buckle. Rafael shied away from her advances then, pulling her hands away from his zipper and expertly flipping them around pinning her against the wall.

Rafael stared at her lecherously, the moon hitting the side of her face in a way that caused it to almost glow. He trailed his arm from her hips up to her neck, the tousled curls of her hair, tickling his skin. His fingertips brushed the exposed surface of her neck slightly, and he watched her; closed eyes and head tilted upwards in glorious exultation.

He kissed her neck first. A small and gentle kiss. His nose tucked behind her ear and his lips latched lightly to the skin just above her collarbone. He could feel her breath hiccup every time he got closer to her pulse point. He was intoxicated by the warmth of her, the scent of perfume and alcohol, and sweat, and need, all mixed and swirled around them. Spurred on by Olivia's interest Rafael moved his hands from her neck traveling down to her chest, massaging her breast as he watched her eyelids flutter closed. He cautiously and languidly ran his hand down her torso, hesitating briefly, then fully stroking her mound watching as her whole body reacted to his touch.

Olivia was startled by his sudden burst of power, but seeing him hover above her caused her heartbeat to quicken, and when his hands roamed her body, touching her most intimate of areas, he drew out a broken and unexpected moan from the back of her throat. Olivia opened her eyes seeing the man in front of her, he was solely fixated on her, and a shiver ran up her spine. There was something in his eyes, the fixated stare, which made her uneasy. He shouldn't be looking at her like that; he didn't even know her name. She pushed her chest out to goad him to start touching her again, and almost immediately his hands picked up where they left off, this time slipping under her panties. Olivia breathy exhales grew into full throaty moans. Rafael was entranced by looking at her, her eyes were closed, mouth hung slightly open. It was intoxicating. Rafael wanted to just fall into her.

Olivia was getting more and more riled up, the alcohol and the attention of the man clinging to her mixed together and made her more daring then she's been in years. She trailed her hands down from his shoulders that she had previously been gripping and pulled once again on his zipper. She almost had it open when -

"Oh fuck sorry!"

Olivia and Rafael jumped at the intrusion, looking just in time to catch the bus boy from the bar disappear around the corner. The air around the couple immediately cooled after being caught.

"Fuck" Rafael breathed out softly, resting his head on Olivia's forehead. Olivia laughed slightly, a giggle the seemingly bubbled out of her unconsciously. Rafael untangled himself from her and leaned his head against the brick wall next to her. Silence rested between them, a chill settled from the loss of contact and Olivia shivered.

Rafael peripherally watched her straighten out her shirt, "When will I see you again?"

"Kindergarten drop off remember? This time I'll make sure I am fully clothed" Olivia retorted with a smirk firmly attached to her face.

"Oh, what a shame."


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

The precinct was always peaceful in the early mornings. Years ago Olivia would pride herself in coming into work early most days of the week. But since Noah was brought into her life, that became an unreasonable expectation. Today was different. She got up abnormally early this morning, especially regarding how much alcohol she consumed the previous evening. She expected one hell of a hangover but when Olivia woke up her body was still thrumming. Her mind kept wandering back to the encounter with the mystery man last night, she had vivid flashes of a smirky grin, gruff whispers, and his head nuzzled into her neck. Every time she thought about it, her stomach twisted pleasantly, and there was a lightness that invaded her whole routine. She was practically giddy smiling over her coffee cup. She's been in the office for 45 minutes, it was already well past 8 AM, and none of her detectives had shown up yet. This would typically be surprising but knowing how much alcohol each of them partook in last night, she expected some delays. The first to come in was Amanda with Carisi following closely in tow. Olivia got up from her desk to greet them, she saw that Amanda still had her sunglasses on and Carisi was definitely disheveled - his shirt was on inside out. Olivia chuckled garnering Amanda's attention.

"And how the hell do you look so chipper," Amanda took off her sunglasses and Olivia chuckled lightly again, the girl looked positively pale. "You drank just as much as we did." Defensively, Amanda crossed her arms and leaned against her desk.

"Well, I guess I can hold my alcohol better than you." Olivia's eyes gleamed over her coffee cup. Amanda scoffed, reluctantly putting back on her sunglasses. Both women turned when they heard Fin enter the precinct, he sat down at his desk chair with a sluggish, sickly grunt, quickly covering his eyes with his hands.

"I'll order some food," Olivia headed back into her office to place an order at the breakfast spot the team loved around the corner. She was halfway through reading her order when she heard clipped footsteps and muffled voices outside her door. She assumed it was Chief Dodds with his pretentious Italian leather shoes, but when she turned around, she saw the profile of a man dressed in a familiar suit, with a familiar haircut, standing familiarly. She stared at him. Tracing the lines of his well-tailored suite feeling that all too familiar tightening of her core. Then it hit her; suddenly, shockingly, and the pleasant tightness simmered away, being quickly replaced with pockets of dread that invaded her chest. She panicked, hanging up the phone unceremoniously and all but hiding behind the door, listening intently to that familiar voice. Every intonation and rhythmic inflection brought her back to that busy sidewalk in the middle of Midtown; His mouth nuzzled into her neck, her hands seductively gripping his sides. She started to sweat. Her heart beat so fast she could feel it in the back of her throat. "What the hell is he doing here?" Her head was throbbing, and she brought her hands up to her temples in an attempt to relieve the pain.

Olivia quickly shut her door softly and sat on her couch, worrying the well-worn brown leather under her hands, allowing the cool material to calm her slightly. "Why the hell is he here?" Olivia repeated to herself. Suddenly she feared that maybe he tracked her down here, but she quickly dismissed that idea as utterly improbable. She wondered if she should just walk out and greet him, cut in and try to manage the situation before it got any worse. But as soon as she opened her door to do so, she saw Chief Dodds turn the corner into her precinct; he waved a brusk hello to the mystery man who was still chatting with her detectives and made a bee-line for her. Olivia couldn't bear to look him in the eye; instead, she focused on his shoes. Settled her breathing into the obnoxious click-clack of the wooden soles, they were Italian leather; he told her multiple times.

"Lieutenant." Olivia's eyes snapped up from her superiors shoes, "We've got a new ADA." Olivia's heart sunk. Her head turned cold, and she stared blankly at the chief.

"Shall we introduce ourselves?" Dodds interjected. Olivia just nodded mutely barely able to make eye contact. When he shifted towards the rest of her team, she inhaled sharply, suddenly remembering to breathe. She poised herself against the doorframe placing her weight against it, to steady herself.

"Rafael" Chief Dodds signaled the man over. Olivia angled her head to the side, hiding her face from view.

"Rafael this is Olivia, the Lieutenant for SVU. Olivia, this is Rafael Barba the new ADA assigned to your division." The moment he caught her eye her heart fell. Olivia could feel sweat building on the back of her neck, and she shifted tensely, adjusting her suit jacket to get her hair away from her neck. They just stared at each other. Olivia could see the realization slowly dawn on his face; it seemed to work its way up from the neck, the muscles in his jaw tensed, his eyebrow quirked up imperceptibly. He stammered slightly "Uh, n-nice to meet you." Rafael plunged his hand out mechanically, and Olivia's chest tightened seeing him so caught off guard. Timidly, Olivia shook Rafael's hand and immediately remembered the feeling of him touching her. She looked down at their joined hands and could stop picturing them in that alley, oh what that man could do with those hands. She shivered, quickly pulling away. Olivia tucked her hands awkwardly in her pant pockets, backed up a couple of feet into her office, once again partially shielding her body from view.

Oblivious to the resting tension, Dodds spoke up "Shall we sit a bit and talk over some logistics?" Neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke. Dodds shifted his weight, eyes darting between the two of them, "Lieutenant?" Dodds nudged Olivia's arm to get her attention.

"Yes - sure," Olivia said softly, openly gesturing to her office. She walked in first and quickly slinked into her desk chair. It scarped on the linoleum, and she cringed at the intrusion.

Olivia didn't register much of their conversation. Sitting at her desk, she just watched Dodds and Rafael talking amicably on her couch. Rafael. She said the name over and over again in her head. That didn't seem to register much either. Olivia didn't like that he now had a name. She was enjoying him as a mystery; an elusive character. But now he was sitting in her office, talking with Dodds and becoming very much a part of her real world.

She looked at him intently. Maybe it was just the professional setting masking his features, the crispness of his suit added that necessary layer of distance to where Olivia could no longer see the man that felt her up at 2 am in the middle of midtown. She just saw his slicked back hair, his professional and expensive tie, and those shoes. Those damn shoes. They were exactly like Dodds's. The same hallow noises, the same Italian leather. Olivia cringed. Looking at the pair talking on the couch all she could think was "I can't believe I made out with someone who wears the same shoes as Dodds."

* * *

Thanks for reading! I've been in quite the creative slump recently. I have so many grand ideas for this story but am having a hard time pinning them down. If you have any fun situations you want to see Barba and Benson engage in please leave a comment and let me know! You may inspire me.


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